2005–06 Scottish Premier League

The 2005–06 Scottish Premier League was won by Celtic, with a 17-point margin over their nearest challengers Hearts in the first season under the management of Gordon Strachan. Rangers, who finished third, failed to finish a Scottish top flight campaign as champions or runners-up for the first time since 1988.

Scottish Premier League
Season2005–06
Dates29 July 2005 – 7 May 2006
ChampionsCeltic
4th Premier League title
40th Scottish title
RelegatedLivingston
Champions LeagueCeltic
Hearts
UEFA CupRangers
Gretna
Intertoto CupHibernian
Matches played228
Goals scored644 (2.82 per match)
Top goalscorerKris Boyd (32)
Biggest home winHibernian 7–0 Livingston
Biggest away winDunfermline 1–8 Celtic

As league champions, Celtic qualified for the UEFA Champions League, with runners-up Hearts also qualifying. This marked the first time since 1995 that a club outside the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers finished in the top two. Third-placed Rangers qualified for the UEFA Cup, as did Scottish Second Division champions Gretna, who took the Scottish Cup place despite losing the final to Hearts.

Livingston were relegated, and Scottish First Division winners St Mirren were promoted.

Kris Boyd was the top scorer with 32 goals (17 for Rangers after 15 for Kilmarnock).

Teams

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Promotion and relegation from 2004–05

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Promoted from First Division to Premier League

Relegated from Premier League to First Division

Stadia and locations

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Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Falkirk
Pittodrie Stadium Celtic Park Tannadice Park Falkirk Stadium
Capacity: 20,866[1] Capacity: 60,411[2] Capacity: 14,223[3] Capacity: 7,937[4]
       
Dunfermline Athletic


Heart of Midlothian
East End Park Tynecastle Park
Capacity: 12,509[5] Capacity: 17,420[6]
   
Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Easter Road Caledonian Stadium
Capacity: 16,531[7] Capacity: 7,500[8]
   
Kilmarnock Livingston Motherwell Rangers
Rugby Park Almondvale Stadium Fir Park Ibrox Stadium
Capacity: 17,889[9] Capacity: 10,016[10] Capacity: 13,677[11] Capacity: 50,817[12]
       

Personnel

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Team Manager
Aberdeen   Jimmy Calderwood
Celtic   Gordon Strachan
Dundee United   Craig Brewster
Dunfermline Athletic   Jim Leishman
Falkirk   John Hughes
Heart of Midlothian   Valdas Ivanauskas
Hibernian   Tony Mowbray
Inverness Caledonian Thistle   Charlie Christie
Kilmarnock   Jim Jefferies
Livingston   John Robertson
Motherwell   Terry Butcher
Rangers   Alex McLeish

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Livingston   Richard Gough 22 May 2005 Resigned Pre-season   Paul Lambert 1 June 2005
Celtic   Martin O'Neill 25 May 2005 Resigned   Gordon Strachan 1 June 2005
Heart of Midlothian   Steven Pressley
  John McGlynn
29 June 2005 End of caretaker spell   George Burley 30 June 2005
Heart of Midlothian   George Burley 21 October 2005 Mutual consent 1st   Graham Rix 8 November 2005
Dundee United   Gordon Chisholm 10 January 2006 Sacked 9th   Craig Brewster 13 January 2006
Inverness Caledonian Thistle   Craig Brewster 13 January 2006 Signed by Dundee United 7th   Charlie Christie 28 January 2006
Livingston   Paul Lambert 11 February 2006 Resigned 12th   John Robertson 15 February 2005
Heart of Midlothian   Graham Rix 22 March 2006 Sacked 2nd   Valdas Ivanauskas 22 March 2006

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Celtic (C) 38 28 7 3 93 37 +56 91 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Heart of Midlothian 38 22 8 8 71 31 +40 74 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3 Rangers 38 21 10 7 67 37 +30 73 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Hibernian 38 17 5 16 61 56 +5 56 Qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round[b]
5 Kilmarnock 38 15 10 13 63 64 −1 55
6 Aberdeen 38 13 15 10 46 40 +6 54
7 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 38 15 13 10 51 38 +13 58
8 Motherwell 38 13 10 15 55 61 −6 49
9 Dundee United 38 7 12 19 41 66 −25 33
10 Falkirk 38 8 9 21 35 64 −29 33
11 Dunfermline Athletic 38 8 9 21 33 68 −35 33
12 Livingston (R) 38 4 6 28 25 79 −54 18 Relegation to the Scottish First Division
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
  2. ^ Hibernian qualified for the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup by being the highest place applicant for the competition.

Results

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Matches 1–22

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During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN DNF FAL HOM HIB INV KIL LIV MOT RAN
Aberdeen 1–3 2–0 0–0 3–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 2–2 3–2
Celtic 2–0 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 2–1 4–2 2–1 5–0 3–0
Dundee United 1–1 2–4 2–1 2–1 0–3 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–0
Dunfermline Athletic 0–2 0–4 2–1 0–1 1–4 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–3 3–3
Falkirk 1–2 0–3 1–3 1–2 2–2 0–2 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–1
Heart of Midlothian 2–0 2–3 3–0 2–0 5–0 4–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0
Hibernian 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–3 2–0 1–2 4–2 3–0 2–1 2–1
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–3 0–1 2–0 2–2 3–0 1–2 0–1
Kilmarnock 4–2 0–1 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–4 2–2 2–2 3–0 4–1 2–3
Livingston 0–0 0–5 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–4 1–2 1–1 0–3 1–2 2–2
Motherwell 3–1 4–4 4–5 1–0 5–0 1–1 1–3 0–2 2–2 1–0 0–1
Rangers 0–0 3–1 3–0 5–1 2–2 1–0 0–3 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–0
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

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During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN DNF FAL HOM HIB INV KIL LIV MOT RAN
Aberdeen 1–0 1–0 2–2 3–0 2–2 2–0
Celtic 3–0 3–3 2–1 1–0 2–1
Dundee United 1–1 1–1 2–4 2–2 3–1 1–4
Dunfermline Athletic 1–0 1–8 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–1
Falkirk 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–4 1–2
Heart of Midlothian 1–2 4–0 4–1 3–0 1–1
Hibernian 1–2 3–1 3–1 0–2 2–1 7–0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0–1 0–0 3–3 0–1 2–3
Kilmarnock 1–4 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0
Livingston 0–2 0–1 0–1 2–3 2–1
Motherwell 1–3 2–0 3–1 2–2 2–1
Rangers 0–1 1–0 2–0 4–0 4–1 1–0
Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

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During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once.

Top scorers

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Player Club Goals
  Kris Boyd Kilmarnock / Rangers 32
  John Hartson Celtic 18
  Craig Dargo Inverness CT 16
  Derek Riordan Hibernian 16
  Rudi Skácel Hearts 16
  Maciej Żurawski Celtic 16
  Paul Hartley Hearts 14
  Peter Løvenkrands Rangers 14
  Shaun Maloney Celtic 13
  Steven Naismith Kilmarnock 13
  Mark Burchill Dunfermline Athletic 12
  Richie Foran Motherwell 11

Source: SPL official website

Attendances

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The average attendances for SPL clubs during the 2005/06 season are shown below:

Team Average
Celtic 58,149
Rangers 49,245
Hearts 16,767
Hibernian 13,816
Aberdeen 12,727
Dundee United 8,197
Kilmarnock 7,070
Dunfermline Athletic 6,260
Motherwell 6,250
Falkirk 5,515
Inverness CT 5,061
Livingston 4,938

Source: SPL official website

Monthly awards

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Month Manager Player Young Player
August   George Burley (Hearts)   Rudolf Skácel (Hearts)   Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock)
September   George Burley (Hearts)   Andy Webster (Hearts)   Kevin Thomson (Hibernian)
October   Gordon Strachan (Celtic)   Stilian Petrov (Celtic)   Darryl Duffy (Falkirk)
November   Tony Mowbray (Hibernian)   Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock)   Aiden McGeady (Celtic)
December   Craig Brewster (Inverness CT)   Peter Løvenkrands (Rangers)   Calum Elliot (Hearts)
January   Alex McLeish (Rangers)   Kris Boyd (Rangers)   Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock)
February   Jimmy Calderwood (Aberdeen)   Maciej Żurawski (Celtic)   Charlie Mulgrew (Dundee United)
March   Terry Butcher (Motherwell)   Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock)   Brian McLean (Motherwell)
April   Jimmy Calderwood (Aberdeen)   Paul Hartley (Hearts)   Steven Smith (Rangers)

References

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  1. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Celtic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Dundee United Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Heart of Midlothian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Kilmarnock Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Livingston Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Motherwell Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)